So let’s talk a little more in depth about what Jazz taught me about Hip Hop.  In part 1 I explained how I came to the decision to gain a deeper understanding of Jazz.  Now let’s actually explain what it taught me.  First of all it’s given me a deep understanding of chords and chord progressions which has allowed me the ability to create music without being reliant on sampling other music.  I found that a lot of my favourite samples are that of Jazz and there are certain patterns consistent in Jazz that can be recreated in a Hip Hop format.  One example is that almost all Jazz chord progressions go down in fifths and often in the widely known ii V I chord progression.  What can be confusing about Jazz is that it very regularly changes key every 4 or so chords in a single composition so you may well hear different examples of ii V I progression or other chords going down in fifths often going back to resolve at the original key the piece started off in.
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I want to explain what jazz taught me about hip hop.  My last post was centred around how jazz made me want to produce hip hop.   I explained how listening to the likes of A Tribe Called Quest really inspired me to want to create hip hop music rather than just rap over it.Continue reading→